F80 lost all electrical power and was smoking

[Gurkenrat]

Not sure if this is relevant, but to trailer the boat home, I had to raise the motor manually. I used the emergency release screw and turned it all the way to the stop in the release direction. It was still a bit of a bitch to lift this thing. I know it’s a heaven motor but it felt like there was some resistance in the hydraulics. My rams are clean and fluid levels are topped up. Could something there be causing motor to work too hard thus heating up the relays? Im still stumped as everything I’ve seen online is if relay is cooked, up down doesn’t work. Mine does. If motor is cooked, neither work. If switch is cooked, one or both directions fail. In my case, up and down both seemed to work but then the fuse just blew. Then there’s the drained battery while boat sat. This feels like I’m going to lose a month of usage while chasing something obscure. Ugh!

[Gurkenrat]

Here is an update. Things got interesting. Replaced the 30 amp fuse and with the keys in my pocket ( so there was no mistake if they were on) connected the battery. The second the battery black wire hit the neg terminal, my buddy yelled “fire”. He disconnected and I had to hit it with the hose as it was burning with a 4 inch flame. Rectifier was smoked!!!! So ok. Now I know the rectifier is pooched but that raises the question. Can/should this have happened with the key off??? Remember, my battery was dead when I went out to boat on thurs. Is the rectifier even supposed to be getting power with key off??? (And yea we had pos and neg hooked up correctly. He is a heavy transport mechanic and I was watching him hook it up to be sure).